Japanese Final Fantasy promotion details

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   This past Monday in Japan marked the release of not one, but two separate lines of Final Fantasy merchandise in Japan. Not only was this the day that Coca-Cola began distributing their Final Fantasy figurines and art cards (the whole reason behind the recent, and somewhat infamous, commercial), but ASCII released the first edition of the Square-approved Final Fantasy Art Museum trading cards. After a few slow days of distribution, both lines have started filtering their ways into retail stores, and the GIA is able to bring you more information on both.

   The Coke promotion, although hard to find right now, is set to flood into the Japanese marketplace over the next few weeks (to the point that both Weekly Famitsu and FamitsuPS sported FF/Coke covers last week). The promotion is set to cover multiple months, and consists of 96 separate items; 78 figurines to be distributed with 500mL bottles, and 18 art cards packaged with 1.5 litres. Currently, all that is readily available on retain shelves is the first series of the former, titled Special Figure Collection Volume 1. This set features 24 cartoonish statuettes of characters from Final Fantasy VII and VIII in either fully-painted or crystal (clear red) variations. Standing a mere 1 inch high, many fan favorites are represented, including Cloud, Aeris, Sephiroth, Chocobo, Mog, Squall, Seifer, and Rinoa. Volume 2, presumably to be released later this summer, features more realistic statues spanning the FFVII-FFIX, and will also have painted and crystal variations. It can also be presumed that the 1.5L art cards have begun shipping as well, but stores are clearing out their older stock before putting the FF promo bottles out, so they have yet to begin to appear.

   Just slightly more low key than the Coke/FF promotion are the new Final Fantasy Art Museum trading cards. Printed and distributed by ASCII (of Famitsu fame), the First Edition of the card set features artwork from Final Fantasy I, IV, & VII spread out over 144 cards. Featuring everything from character designs to FMV sequences, game openings to vehicles, the set is well put together and fairly complete. Highlights among the cards mainly come in the form of Yoshitaka Amano art, as rarely seen FFI art/designs and FFVII art make good showings in the mix. Fans of the early games may find a bit of disappointment, as FFI & FFIV make up a mere 1/3 of the set put together, although Square has made up for it in the fact that the pieces presented for those games are more carefully chosen, and generally more pleasing to look at. As per the norm with card sets today, the final 9 cards of the set are foil "chase cards", and average about one card to every 5 packs. Fans considering importing a box will be happy to know that the distribution is fairly good, with one box normally coming just short of a complete set. The cards are available in both 10-card packs, retailing for 350 yen, and boxes of 15 packs for 4625 yen. Square will cover the remaining main series games in later editions; FFII, V, & VIII will make up Second Edition, and FFIII, VI, and IX will be shown in Third Edition (neither Tactics nor Mystic Quest will be in the series).

   The future of the Coke promotion and the Art Museum cards is unknown outside of Japan, but their sheer numbers that they will be distributed in shouldn't make them all that hard to come by. As usual, the GIA will keep you posted on any major updates.